Kelita and Neisha leading the way. A happy bride and groom. Ada and Alex McMillan (middle) standing outside the Colonarie Catholic Church My St. Vincent host parents Ernest and Annie Andrews. My host brothers and cousins in the back row are: first on left is Nicholas followed by Camilus next to him is Al and Declan is fith from the left. Annie Andrews, her daughters Neisha and Angel, and their cousin Kelita Little Alan (on left) and his two friends at the reception. Yeah, he's a trouble maker.

"A Vincie Wedding" 8/11/2002 Today was one of those days where it seems like time has slowed down and you pack several days into the time span of one. Being a Saturday, everything began fairly mellow. I woke up, had breakfast, recovered from the readjustment depression that I seem to wake up with every morning. After spending a few hours just chillin' we all got ready for the wedding. Everyone made sure to look their absolute best. This included some hair emergencies for my host sisters. Once everybody was ready, we headed to the wedding. I was riding with the Andrews' and was surprised when we stopped to pick up the groom, Alex. He seemed pretty calm with only a little anxiousness showing. Either way, I felt honored to be welcomed so far into the family. The wedding took place in an old stone church in the costal town of Colonaire. Ada the bride, and Alex had a great ceremony and really seemed to be enjoying their big day. The flower girls, brides maids, and grooms men consisted mostly of family members. After the ceremony a large caravan formed and went driving through Park Hill, South Rivers, and Byera honking horns and making a lot of noise. All the people from these towns and villages came out and were lining the streets as we drove past. The procession then continued down the coast to an inn where the reception was to take place. It was quite an interesting moment for me when the wedding procession encountered a funeral procession heading in the opposite direction. To add to the surreality, Grandma, Lenny (age 5), the Andrews' (mom and dad's age), and I were cruising along in Mr. Andrews GT Skyline listening to club music. The wedding reception was a great place for me to meet people. I met the Minister of Agriculture, lots of people from South Rivers, several teachers and principals, and most importantly the Prime Minister. Mr. Gonsalves, the head of state for St. Vincent, is from the South Rivers area and knew the bride and groom. One of those guys who is always on the job, he made sure to ask Mr. Andrews if the electric company had installed lighting on one of the rural roads east of South Rivers. I thing I did learn from the wedding is that I relate much better to adults than to people in the 15-22 age bracket. The young adults here are very mature in some social ways, but still very immature in some intellectual areas. That makes it a little hard for me to come up with things to talk with them about. I also feel much more comfortable with ability to integrate into the community of South Rivers having met people other than the ones that just hang around on the streets during the day.